It’s been a long year and a lot of us will be looking forward to planning our holidays and hoping that we can visit our favourite resorts.  Before you plan your vacation and start daydreaming about long lazy lunches and chilling on the beach, make sure you’ve got your Covid preparations well in hand for when you return to England (other regulations may apply in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland).

As well as having to be patient while we wait for news and updates, we’ve also learnt that things can change.  Sometimes at the last minute. We strongly recommend that you keep a close eye on the Government website to ensure you’re following the correct advice.  

Here are some of our suggestions about what you need to do next.

Find out which list the country you are visiting is on.

The UK Government has devised a Red, Amber and Green list and divided up the countries accordingly.  It’s worth pointing out that you cannot visit Red and Amber countries for leisure purposes.  So if you’re wanting to go on holiday to places like South Africa or Cyprus you’re going to have to wait a bit longer,  as these are on the Red or Amber list.

The Green list is effective from 17 May.  At present it is small, but contains countries such as Portugal, Iceland, Gibraltar and others.

Please check as these lists may change.

Find out what test you need to have booked for use on your return

If you are going to a:

Red Country: 

You will need to book your Quarantine in a Hotel for 10 days.  Tests will be included in the price of this.  You can find more details about this here.

Amber Country: 

You will need to have booked a test on Day 2 and Day 8. These need to have been booked and paid for before you travel. You also have an option to book a Day 5. This is called a ‘Test to Release’ and means that if you test negative on Day 2, you can cut short your quarantine (however, you still need to test on Day 8) 

You can purchase:

Day 2 and Day 8 here

Optional Day 5 here

Day 2, 5 & 8 here

Green Country: 

From 17 May, when you return from a Green country you just need a Day 2 test and you don’t need to quarantine.

You can purchase:

Day 2 here

All of our PCR tests can be done in the comfort of your own home or if you’d prefer, you can book an appointment in our Truro clinic.

Before you go on holiday

Don’t forget to:

• Fill in your passenger locator form
• Take a Covid Test before you go
• Keep yourselves up to date with Government guidelines

Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash